Method and Apparatus For Information exchange Over a Web Based Environment

ABSTRACT

This invention discloses method and system for user posting (sharing) or un-posting (stop sharing) files, folders, and messages. The stop sharing file or folder will not delete actual file or folder that enhanced then-existing technology for file and folder sharing. The un-post message operation facilitates a user to un-post (delete or withdraw or stop sharing) his/her previously posted message from view of a recipient such that the user can avoid embarrassing if the message is not proper. Thus, the un-post posted message has also enhanced the then-existing technology for message sharing.

PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/396,709 filed on Apr. 28, 2019, which itself is a divisional U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/156,260 filed on May 15, 2016 and now aU.S. Pat. No. 10,326,770, which itself is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/021,062 filed on Sep. 9, 2013 and now a U.S.Pat. No. 9,448,697, which itself is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/080,007 filed on Apr. 5, 2011 and now a U.S.Pat. No. 8,713,442, which itself in turn is a division of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/732,496 filed on Apr. 2, 2007, and claims thebenefit of priority based upon U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 60/787,653, filed on Mar. 31, 2006. The application Ser. No.11/732,496 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/713,904 filed on Aug. 6, 2002, now a U.S. Pat. No.7,418,702, and converted on Jul. 22, 2003 from provisional applicationNo. 60/401,238 filed on Aug. 6, 2002. The application Ser. No.11/732,496 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/713,905 filed on Aug. 12, 2002, now a U.S. Pat. No.7,373,990, and converted on Jul. 22, 2003 from provisional applicationNo. 60/402,626 filed on Aug. 12, 2002. All the above prior applicationsand patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties forall purpose.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to communication network. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to web based communicationsystem.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With increasing popularity of using the Internet and World Wide Web(“the Web”) for the rapidly changing digital world, individuals as wellas enterprises exchange (or swap) large volumes of information throughthe Web. The demand for larger and faster information exchange hasincreasingly grown in recent years. For example, various businessmeetings and conferences are conducted over the Web with attendeesscattered around the world. To enhance the communication between themeeting attendees, not only voice (and/or image) information isimportant, but also information exchange can be critical.

Fast, volumes, and secure information exchange is important in enhancingthe efficiency of a communication network. A problem associated with aconventional network is limited size and speed. For example, a typicalemail system limits the size of each email, such as 10 megabytes,thereby a reasonable speed of delivery of such email can be achieved.Another problem associated with a conventional network is that varioushosts require specific software installation before a user can use theirplatform. For example, Skype™ requires users to install its proprietarysoftware on the user's systems before it allows them to use itsplatform.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide faster, more secure,and volume information exchange over the Web.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for informationexchange over a web environment.

With the development of central controlled distributed scalable virtualmachine (CCDSVM) and the web-based computer user working (operating)environment (WCUWE), the problems mentioned in the previous section caneasily be solved by introducing a “dynamic work space” technology ofthis invention within the frameworks of the CCDSVM and the WCUWE.

With dynamic work space technology, one or more login users of theCCDSVM, each using a browser of any system and from anywhere, caninstantly perform tasks. For example, each user can post or un-postmessages, files, folders, or other resources on systems of the CCDSVM,with group-based model or non-group 1-to-1 model, to one or more otherusers on said network. This technology will also achieve larger scalesof secure information exchange without size limitation and theinstallation of special software.

The implementation of this invention has provided users with a webbrowser based, 1-click system that is capable of securing exchanges ofmessages, files, folders, or other information resources on systemscrossing network domains without size limitation.

Additional features and benefits of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description, figures, and claims set forthbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood more fully from the detaileddescription given below and from the accompanying drawings of variousembodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken tolimit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanationand understanding only.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a layout of a CCDSVM having acentral control management system, and multiple provisioned systems,client systems, and console systems in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a layout of a CCDSVM with whichusers, each from a web-browser on a provisioned system can communicatewith each other in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating a layout of a CCSDVM with only asingle control management system to be accessed by a plurality of clientsystems in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a software for aCCDSVM in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a dynamic work space in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of resources which may be assigned to auser-group common work space in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4C illustrates an example of a user's private work space andpossible assigned system resources in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of resources on systems in accordance withone embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of displaying a web page with 4 sectionsin a web-browser of a user X in a user-group-1 during an interactiveonline meeting in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6B illustrates an example of displaying a web page with 4 sectionsin a web-browser of a user Y in the user group-1 during the interactiveonline meeting in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6C illustrates an example of displaying a web page with 4 sectionsin a web-browser of the user X in the user group-1 before theinteractive online meeting in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6D illustrates an example of displaying a web page with 4 sectionsin the web-browser of the user Y in the user group-1 before theinteractive online meeting in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6E illustrates an example of a displayed web page that each ofmassive online users can access and view from each of their browserswithout login to the CCDSVM during said user X and user Y in the usergroup-1 online meeting in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7A illustrates one-to-one, peer-to-peer post or un-post messages,files and folders by a user X in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7B illustrates one-to-one, peer-to-peer post or un-post messages,files and folders by a user Y in accordance with another embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8A is an example of displaying a web based graphic presentation forassigned resources in a user X's private work space in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8B is an example of displaying a web based graphic presentation forassigned resources in a private work space of a user Y in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8C is an example of displaying a web-based graphic presentation forresources in the user Y's private work space after the user Xdynamically posted and shared a “folder 2” through the user X'sdisplayed private space in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9A is an example of a pop-up menu for operating folders inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9B is an example of a pop-up menu for operating files in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10A is an example of a non pop up operation menu for operatingfolders in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10B is an example of a non pop-up operation menu for operatingfiles in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an example of a displayed control list of posted files orfolders in a sharable file & folder area of a work space that a user Xcan use it to control un-post file or folder in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment of a computing system of thisinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the contextof a method, system and apparatus for providing a web basedcommunications network with fast, volume, and secure informationexchange. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that thefollowing detailed description of the present invention is illustrativeonly and is not intended to be in any way of limiting. Other embodimentsof the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilledpersons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now bemade in detail to implementations of the present invention asillustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicatorswill be used throughout the drawings and the following detaileddescription to refer to the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of theimplementations described herein are shown and described. It will, ofcourse, be appreciated that in the development of any such actualimplementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be madein order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliancewith application- and business-related constraints, and that thesespecific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from onedeveloper to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such adevelopment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those ofordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps,and/or data structures described herein may be implemented using varioustypes of operating systems, computing platforms, computer programs,and/or general purpose machines. In addition, those of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature,such as hardwired devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or the like, may alsobe used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein. Where a method comprising a series of processsteps is implemented by a computer or a machine and those process stepscan be stored as a series of instructions readable by the machine, theymay be stored on a tangible medium such as a computer memory device(e.g., ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory),EEPROM (Electrically Eraseable Programmable Read Only Memory), FLASHMemory, Jump Drive, and the like), magnetic storage medium (e.g., tape,magnetic disk drive, and the like), optical storage medium (e.g.,CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, paper card and paper tape, and the like) and otherknown types of program memory.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the followingdetailed description of the present invention is illustrative only andis not intended to be in any way of limiting. Other embodiments of thepresent invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilledpersons having the benefit of this disclosure. It will be apparent toone skilled in the art that these specific details may not be requiredto practice to present invention. In other instances, well-knowncircuits and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuringthe present invention. In the following description of the embodiments,substantially the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will now be apparent to those skilled in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications thanmentioned above are possible without departing from the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein. Therefore, the appended claims are intendedto encompass within their scope all such modifications as are within thespirit and scope of this invention.

The present invention can be implemented by a web based system operatedin a network infrastructure, such as a central controlled distributedscalable virtual machine (“CCDSVM”). FIG. 1 illustrates a CCDSVM inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The CCDSVMincludes a group of provisioned systems 3, a control management system2, console systems 1, and client systems 10. The control managementsystem (“control system”) 2 is configured to control a group of systems(“provisioned system”) 3. The console systems (“console systems”) 2provides management while client systems 10 (“client systems”) initiateaccessing the provisioned systems 3 via a web-browser over a networkinfrastructure, such as a corporate Intranet, the Internet, and/or aLAN.

The network infrastructure (“network”) includes all necessary hardwareand software that facilitate various users from different geographiclocations to communicate through the Internet, an Intranet, and/or aLAN. The hardware of the network includes network connection media,wireless media, circuitry components, and communication equipment. Thenetwork connection media includes various cables such as Ethernet and/oroptical fiber. The wireless media are capable of establishing wirelesscommunication links through air. The circuitry components includeprocessor, data bus, memory devices, and/or circuit board. Thecommunication equipment, such as switches, routers, gateways, and/oradapters, are used to provide a communications network. It should benoted that there are other possible elements of communication equipmentthat may be needed to form a communication link, but they are notnecessary to understand the present invention.

The software infrastructure includes Internet Protocol (“IP”) addressesand system name identification software such as Domain Name Server(“DNS”), firewall software, IP gateway set-up software, IP broadcast.The communication protocols over the network could be IP-based standardor non-standard proprietary protocols such as Hypertext TransferProtocol (“HTTP”) over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(“TCP/IP”) or Simple Object Access Protocol (“SOAP”) over TCP/IP. Itshould be further noted that some of the IP based protocols areproprietary protocols and some of them are non-IP based protocols.

A web-browser is an application program that allows a user to accessinformation over the Web, such as Windows Internet Explorer (“IE”),FireFox, Netscape, and/or Mozillar. A web-browser could also beproprietary software, which uses web-protocols such as HTTP, WAP, SOAPfor communication over the network. The web-browser can be implementedwith suitable programming languages such as C, C++, Java, or XML, or acombination of the suitable languages.

A web page, on the other hand, is encoded for displaying information andis accessible through web-browser. The web page may be hosted by a webserver via a web server system and can be transmitted (or retrieved) bya web-browser.

The provisioned systems 3, client systems 10, console systems 1, andcontrol management system 2 are computational systems, which could beserver system, desktop or laptop system, handheld devices such as PDA,wireless phone, and so forth. The computational system includes CPUs,storage devices, and memory controller. The storage devices includeinternal memory such as read-only memory (“ROM”) and/or random accessmemory (“RAM”). The storage devices may further include external storagedevices such as magnetic disks or tapes drives, include redundant arrayof inexpensive disk drives (“RAID”), just bunch of disk drive (“JBOD”),and memory stick. The associated storage controller can be IntegratedDrive Electronics (“IDE”), Small Computer System Interface (“SCSI”),Fiber optical controller, or a combination of above-mentioned devices.

The computational systems also include non-embedded or real-timeembedded operating system (“OS”), which could be Linux, or Windows,Unix, or proprietary OS. It should be noted that the present inventionmay include multiple control systems at different layers of a systemconfiguration topology, where each of the control systems is capable ofcommunicating with each other through a network. The control systems atmiddle layers play dual roles as both control system and provisionedsystem in the system configuration topology.

FIG. 1 illustrates a CCDSVM platform with multiple clients 10 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The CCDSVMincludes the console systems 1, a control management system 2, theprovisioned systems 3, and networks 11-12, wherein networks 11-12 areused inter-connecting with all systems of the CCDSVM and the clientsystems 10.

The console system 1 is a computational system having a web-browser or(web-console) 9 wherein the web-browser is used by privileged users foraccessing the CCDSVM platform. The web browser 9, which could be on acomputing system, permits a user to access information of the CCDSVM byfollowing a web URL link. For example, a privileged user enters a URL of“https://69.107.28.123/stt/sttwebos” on a command line of the webbrowser 9 and once the link is established, the user can obtaininformation hosted by the web-based computer user work/operationenvironment (“WCUWE”). The console system 1, in one embodiment, furtherincludes software modules 13, where the software modules 13 may be usedto facilitate communication between the console system 1 and the controlmanagement system 2.

The control system 2, in one embodiment, is a server system, a desktopor a laptop system with the memory and storage capabilities. The controlsystem 2 includes web server software 7 and console supporting software6. The console supporting software 6 includes web server interfacesoftware modules 5 and control management software modules 4. Thecontrol management system 2 may also have a web-browser 9 used as aweb-console 9 of the control system 2. The web server software 7sends/receives data to/from the web-console 9 of the console system 1 orthe client system 10 or the control system 2. The web server software 7is configured to provide secure sockets layer (“SSL”) encryption toencrypting the data before transmission to enhance the security. The webserver software 7 could be commercially available software such asApache™ from open source, or IIS from Microsoft or a proprietarysoftware. The web server software modules 7 and console support softwaremodules 6 can be implemented by suitable or a combination of suitableprogramming languages such as C, C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, or XML.

The console supporting software 6 communicates with the service softwaremodules 8 of the provisioned systems 3. The web server interface 5 ofthe console support software 6 is capable of providing special functionsthat are otherwise performed by the web server 7. If there is noprovisioned system 3 coupled to the CCDSVM platform, the controlmanagement system 2, in one embodiment, is reconfigured to continuemonitoring systems over the network while the CCDSVM platform is alsoreconfigured into a single stand-alone system, as shown in FIG. 2B.Therefore, users can access and/or obtain resource objects or systemresources via the web-browser 9, which can be resided on client system 3or console system 1.

The provisioned system 3, in one embodiment, is a computational systemcontaining suitable operating system (“OS”). The provisioned systems 3can be automatically provisioned by the control system 2 through anautomatic system service pool construction protocol. Provision process,also known as pooling process, is a method allowing the control system 2to control one or more network systems by reconfiguring the networksystems. For example, when a provisioned system boots up via saidcommunication protocol, the control system 2 automatically obtainsprovisioned system's name, IP address, and system information, where thesystem information includes network information, storage information,file system information and so forth. Thus, each provisioned system 3can be monitored, accessed, and/or operated by a user(s) through theweb-browser 9 on the console system 1. In an alternative embodiment,provisional system 3 is controlled by users through client systems 10via the control system 2 with proper users' authentication. Eachprovisioned system 3 contains service software modules 8, which is usedto communicate with servers over the Web. For example, the servicesoftware modules 8 of provisioned system 3 can communicate with thecontrol management software 4 of the control system 2 to carry out tasksreceived therefrom for viewing or operating resources of the provisionedsystem 3. The service software 8 can communicate with the web-browser 9of the client system 10 or console system 1 to transfer data betweenthem or deliver service to them, or to communicate with anotherprovisioned system 3 to send or receive data.

The service software modules 8 may include special software moduleshaving compatible functionalities as the web-server software 7 of thecontrol system 2 has for dedicatedly handling HTTP protocol or other webprotocols for web-based communication with the client 10 or with theother provisioned systems 3 or with the control system 2. The softwaremodules 8 could be commercially available web server software 7 orproprietary software. The service software modules 8 could beimplemented with suitable programming languages such as C, C++, Java, orJavaScript.

Net 11 and Net 12 are network infrastructures that are capable ofproviding communication links between the control management system 2,console systems 1, client systems 10, and/or provisioned systems 3.

The client systems 10 may not be a part of the CCDSVM, but with thepermission and authorization, a user from the web-browser 9 of theclient system 10 can login to the CCDSVM and access the permittedresources of the CCDSVM by following a web URL link of the CCDSVM. Whilethe privileged users can obtain, manage, access, and/or operate systemresources of the CCDSVM through the WCUWE, regular (non-privileged)users at the client systems 10 may be permitted to access only limitedsystem resources of the CCDSVM.

The CCDSVM configuration, in one embodiment, includes four data flowpaths. First data path is a communication link between the web browser 9of the client host 10 (or console host 1 or control management system 2)and the web handling software on the control system 2 (such asweb-server 7 or console support software 6). With this path of dataflow, whenever a user sends a request from the web-browser 9 to theweb-server 7 or the console support software 6, the console supportsoftware 6 collects required information from target provisioned systems3 and converts the information into standard structured information(web-format) for web communication. The targeted system could be one ofthe provisioned systems 3 or the control system 2. The informationcollected by the console support software 6 of the control system 2could be the system status, or the storage information, or the networkinformation, or the user authentication profile, or the file systeminformation, or files & folders information on the control system 2, oron the a targeted provisioned system 3. The console support software 6then passes this converted structured information to web server software7 and further sends it to the web-browser 9 through a communication linkof the Net 11 and Net 12 so that it can be displayed and viewed by theconventional web browser 9, as shown in FIG. 1.

The communication protocol used between the web-browser 9 of the clientsystem 10 (or the console system 1 or the control system 2) and the webserver 7 of the control system 2 could be HTTP, HTTPS (SSL encryptedHTTP protocol) or suitable web protocols for web communication, whichcould successfully transmit the data across the web or could be otherstandard or proprietary IP-based on non-IP-based protocols. This datapath may be referred to as the console support software 6 transmits datato or receives data from the web-browser 9 or web-server 7.

The second data path is the data flow through communication linksbetween the control system 2 and provisioned systems 3. Requeststargeted to a provisioned system 3 are passed from the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 to the service modules 8 of theprovisioned systems 3 through communication link network 12. When theresponses for those requests are received from the control system 2, theservice modules 8 of the provisioned system 3 carry out the requestedtasks, and then send the response back to the console support software 6of the control system 2. The implementation of the actual products ofthis invention for the second data path may use proprietary TCP/UDP/IPbased protocols for the communication between the provisioned systems 3and the control system 2. However, other standards or proprietaryIP-based or suitable non-IP-based protocol are also possible. Thecommunication protocols used between the console support software 6 ofthe control system 2 and the service modules 8 of the provisioned system3 can be suitable IP based or non-IP based protocols, whichever issuitable to transmit data between them. The typical data flow throughthis path could be the boot message, system status, network information,or storage information of the provisioned system 3 as shown in FIG. 1.

The third data path is the data flow between the provisioned systems 3and the client system 10 or the console system 1 via the communicationlinks of the net 11-12. Referring back to FIG. 1, the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 may present a web link, which pointsto an object on a provisioned system 3, to a user working via aweb-browser 9 on the client system 10 or the console system 1 or thecontrol system 2. The object pointed by the web link on the provisionedsystem 3 could be a text file, MPEG video, PDF document, MS Power Point,Word documentation and others. It also could be a link of another webservice program. From the web browser 9, a user can directly access theinformation on a provisioned system 3 pointed by the web link without gothrough the control system 2 again. In this case, the service modules 8of the provisioned system 3 also include web server software modules 7or equivalent one to directly support the web browser 9 as mentionedbefore. The communication protocols with the third path could be webprotocols such as HTTP or WAP. Alternatively, the communicationprotocols can be other standards or proprietary IP-based or non-IP-basedprotocols. To simplify the discussion, the data transmitted on this pathwill be mentioned as the service software module 8 that send data to orreceive data from the web-browser 9 and/or vice versa.

The fourth data path is data flow through communication link between aprovisioned system 3 and another provisioned system 3. With this path,the service modules 8 of one provisioned system 3 can directly transmitdata or information to the service modules 8 of another provisionedsystem 3 via a communication link of the Net 12 without going throughthe control system 2. The implementation of the actual products of thisinvention, for example, uses a proprietary IP-based protocol forcommunications between the two provisioned systems 3. The principle ofthis invention, however, does not rely on or limit to proprietaryprotocol. It should be noted that other standard or proprietary IP-basedor suitable non-IP-based protocol may also be possible. The data andinformation transmitted through the fourth data path can be varioustypes of data. For example, a user at a web-browser 9 may open a filefolder on a provisioned system 3. The user can also instruct to transfera file from a current target provisioned system 3 to another provisionedsystem 3 by a mouse click. The data file will then be transferreddirectly between the two provisioned systems 3 without going through thecontrol system 2.

FIG. 2A illustrates a variation of the CCDSVM platform for the webbrowser-based communication in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. The CCDSVM platform illustrated in FIG. 2A is similarto the platform illustrated in FIG. 1 except each of provisioned systems3 includes a web-browser 9. Thus, with proper authentication process,each user of provisioned systems 3 may access, manage their ownprovisioned system 3 from the web-browser 9 either on their own localprovisioned system 3 or on client system anywhere on the network. Itshould be noted that when a user is registered with a provisioned system3, the user is authorized to access provisioned system 3 locally but notwith the CCDSVM. On the other hand, when a user is registered withCCDSVM, the user is then authorized to access the multiple provisionedsystems 3 and the control system 2 of the CCSDVM.

FIG. 2B illustrates another example of a variation of CCDSVM, in whichthere is no provisioned systems 3 in the CCDSVM. The Control system 2can run on its own and the CCDSVM has degenerated into a singlestand-alone system (FIG. 2B), and users through web-browser 9 on clientsystem 3 (or on console system 1, or on stand-alone control system 2)are allowed to access and operate the permitted resource objects andsystem resources on the stand-alone control system 2.

Unless specifically specified, the console support software modules 6 ofthe control system 2, the provisioned systems 3, the service softwaremodules 8 of provisioned system 3, and the web-browser 9 on the controlsystem 2, the client system 10, and the console system 1 are referred tothe CCDSVM platform illustrated in FIG. 1.

A web-based computer user work/operation environment (“WCUWE”) of CCDSVMis a software infrastructure, shown in FIG. 3, which provides eachpermitted user to log into CCDSVM and further provide each user aprivate web-browser based operating environment, which is a private workspace including the assigned and permitted resources on the controlsystem 2 or on the provisioned system 3 across the network. The WCUWEfurther provides each user from a single web-browser to perform variouspermitted tasks and operations over various system resources (FIG. 5),further, the tasks can be performed concurrently from a singleweb-browser.

The tasks include allowing privileged users to create users, and usergroups, assign users to each group, to assign initial associated systemresources to each user or group, and to save the information of createdusers and groups into a database stored on storage media of the controlsystem 2. The information needed for creating users or groups includeuser names, user IDs, assigned security permissions, passwords, accesspoints, group names, group IDs, maximum members in a group, and soforth. The tasks also include various system operations such as managenetwork, storage, file system, folder, files, messages, user security,and so forth.

The database is organized as one or more lists of tables, wherein eachof the lists contains information for various resources. The resourcescould be one or multiple users' information, one or multiple systems'information, one or more network cards, and one or more disk drivesinformation. The storage media could be a system's internal storage ordisk drive, for example.

The WCUWE of the CCDSVM includes software modules of present invention.For example, the software includes the console support modules 6 of thecontrol system 2, the service software modules 8 of the provisionedsystem 3, the other service software 13 of the console system 1. Thecurrent implementation of the WCUWE is based on a proprietary design ofthis invention. However, the nature and spirit of this invention doesnot limit to proprietary designed software. The WCUWE of the CCDSVM alsoincludes other proprietary software modules or conventional softwaresuch as the web-server 7 of the control system 2, the web-browser 9 ofthe control system 2, the client system 10, and console system 1.

The WCUWE of the CCDSVM can be implemented with suitable or combinationof various suitable programming languages such C, C++, Java,JavaScripts, HTML, WL, and so on. To simplify the discussion, the WCUWEwill be used to represent software modules in the CCDSVM describedabove.

Users of the CCDSVM may be created by the CCDSVM though a given processor users are on the Internet, Intranet, LAN without registering withCCDSVM. The WCUWE of the CCDSVM provides user to access variousresources and perform various tasks through a preferred model of mouseclicking graphically represented resource objects displayed on thebrowser 9.

The WCUWE is designed to be operated on a CCDSVM platform, and speciallyis designed to provide dynamic work space (FIG. 4A) to each userassociated with the various CCDSVM. The WCUWE further facilitates eachuser performs tasks of instantly posting or un-posting user's privateresources information to peers in a group or to each peer user of theCCDSVM not in a group or not in a same group, or to massive public userson the network, where the massive public users do not have accounts withthe CCDSVM platform.

The dynamic work space of the WCUWE is a centrally controlled collectionof each group's work space and/or user's work private space. The consolesupport software 6 of the control system 2 of the CCDSVM will assigneach user a private work space and each group a common work space wheneach user or group account is created by a privileged user aftercorresponding WCUWE software modules on the control system 2 andprovisioned system 3 enter into an operational mode. When a user or agroup account is created, each user is assigned with a specific usersecurity scope and permission. An important aspect of the WCUWE of theCCDSVM is that it assigns each user and/or each user-group a workingspace based on user and group security permission.

A work space is an organized information structure, which can be savedon storage media of memory or disk drives or both of memory and diskdrives by the console support software 6. A work space is created duringa privileged user performing the tasks of creating user or group. Thework space will be initiated and assigned with system resources of theCCDSVM as shown in FIG. 5. Various system resources on either theprovisioned system 3 and/or on the control system 2 include respectivememory, system-groups, computing systems in a system-group, file system,file folders, files, storage media, network media and so on. The commonwork space 15, shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, of each group may beinitially assigned with information of system resources (FIG. 5) such asusers in this group, message area, file systems, folders and files on aspecific provisioned system 3 or on the control system 2, and so on. Theresources of the common work space may also be dynamically assigned orallocated by permitted user after creating group account. For example,during an online interactive meeting, a user posts a file to the commonwork space, so that a new entry of a file node is added to a file andfolder tree area of common work space. In addition, each group may beassigned with one or multiple users, wherein each user can also beassigned with a private work space 16 illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4Cduring user account creation time. The private work space may also beinitially assigned with system resources of the CCDSVM during useraccount creation time. Alternatively, the private work space isdynamically assigned with the resources of the CCDSVM after the useraccount being created.

For example, a privileged user can dynamically permit or deny a generaluser to access a list of storage devices. During the operation, at onesecond, the user may see the list from the user's web-browser, and atanother second, the general user will no longer see the list. Also, ifthe authorized user can access to the list of the storage devices on aprovisioned system 3, and further can take one of the devices offline sothat the device list on the provisioned system 3 will have one lessdevice to be displayed.

In another example, at one second, a privileged user allows a generaluser to access a file J in a folder N on a system M of the CCDSVM, andat another second, the privileged user resets the previous permission,thereby, the general user can view and access the file J in the folder Nof the system M of the CCDSVM at one time, and a second later, thegeneral user can not view and access the file J any more. The actualimplementation of console support software 6 of control system 2 hasachieved this capability.

In addition, each type of resources in the work space is organized as alist of tables and can be stored in storage media in the control system2. The integrity of security of each group is protected by limitingdifferent resources to different group. As such, each group isauthorized to have a limited view over assigned system resources on theprovisioned system 3 as well as on the control system 2. The samesecurity integrity at user level can be achieved by assigning differentsystem resources of the provisioned system 3 and/or the control system 2to different individual user based on assigned security permission.Therefore, each user is authorized to access and view the assignedresources only.

FIG. 4B has shown an example of assigned resources of users 17, messagearea 18, folders and files area 19, and other areas 20 in the commonwork space 15 of a group. The messages, from each user in the usergroup, in the common message area 18, and the information of folders andfiles in common files and folder area 19 can be shared by all users inthe same user group. All resources in each group's common work space canbe selectively displayed in the web-browser 9 of each login user, whobelongs to the same user group after said resources in said group beingconverted to presentable web-format (web-page) by the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 of a CCDSVM.

FIG. 4C has shown an example of resources in private work space (16) ofa user, which has assigned private message area 21, private file, folderarea 22, and private network or storage or other information areas 23.The assigned resources in the private workspace only can be exclusivelyviewed and accessed by the designated user unless he/she agrees to sharewith peer user crossing group boundary or with peer users in a samegroup. The folder (directory) is a data structure which can hold onemore files and sub-folders at logical file system level and at physicallevel on storage media.

FIG. 8A has shown an example of displaying an actually implementedportion of web-page encoded with assigned resources in private workspace of a user X, which includes a system-group-A 33 on said network,multiple provisioned systems 3 under the system-group-A, private folders32 and 34 of the user X on a system, and files under the folders 32 inthe displayed private work space of the user X.

FIG. 8B has shown another example of displaying an actually implementedportion of a web-page encoded with assigned resources in a private workspace of a user Y, which includes a control system 2, private folder andfiles 35 of the user Y in the displayed private work space of user Y.

The private work space of the user X and user Y may also include privatemessage area 21 and other resources, which are not displayed in FIG. 8A& FIG. 8B because the WCUWE is designed to dynamically display part ofuser's private work space whenever there is needs.

It is notable that said user X and user Y, may be in same user-groupsuch as in said group-1, however, each of them could have a significantdifferent scope of the private work space assigned by the consolesupport software 6 of the control system 2. This is due to they havebeen assigned with very different resources on the systems depending oneach user's role and security permission, which is setup by privilegeduser of the CCDSVM through web-based user interface provided by theconsole support software 6. This is the beauty of the invention of WCUWEfor CCDSVM.

The FIG. 6C and FIG. 6D are examples of a web-page displayed in saidweb-browser 9 for each of the user X and user Y in the user group-1before an interactive online meeting. As shown in FIG. 6C and FIG. 6D,the user X or user Y or other users (who's web-page/browser were notdepicted) in the same user group-1 have entered a group online meetingafter their login to the CCDSVM from each browser 9 on a computingsystem on said network. All users get an identical web-page provided bythe console support software 6 of the control system 2 except withdifferent contents in the displayed private work space section of theweb-page due to each user has assigned with different resources. Theweb-page screen layout provided by the console support software 6contains four sections:

-   -   1) a private user message input area (section-1),    -   2) a message displaying section for displaying common message        area 18 shown in FIG. 4B for all users in a user group-1        (section-2),    -   3) a file or folder display section for displaying group common        file and folder area 19 shown in FIG. 4B for all users in same        user group-1 (section-3), and    -   4) a file and folder tree displaying and management section        (section-4) for displaying user folder and file tree in private        file and folder area 22 as shown in FIG. 4C, of a user's private        work space 16.

Initially, the section-1, section-2, and section-3 are all empty due tono one has posted any file or message yet. The console support software6 gets each login user's portion of assigned folders and files for theonline meeting from the stored private file and folder area 22 of theprivate work space 16 of each user on said storage media, and furtherconverts said file or folder information to presentable web-format(web-page) to be displayable in said section-4 of the web-page inweb-browser 9 of each user. The choice of total four sections of theweb-page layout and the order of each section on the browser screen 9 isirrelevant to this invention since other choices of designing are alsopossible, and further, this invention does not have limitation on whatweb-screen layout shall be. The information of the file or folderincludes the system name where the file or folder resided, the name andpath of the file or folder, the owner of file or folder, the timestamps, the size of the file and so on without limitation.

During the interactive online meeting, the console support software 6provides each user to post or un-post files or folders to said section-3of displayed group's common documents and contents management sectionwith several steps. First, for example, providing said user X to clickon one targeted file “Doc 1” 24 or “sub folder-1” in the section-4 ofthe displayed file and folder management area of said user X's privatework space 16. Second, select the operation of either post or un-postfrom an operation menu (see FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B, FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B).Finally click on the selected operation to submit the task of eitherpost or un-post the selected file or folder.

Each user with permission may perform un-post operation if such user hasat least a previously posted file or folder, which has already displayedin section-3 of the common document and content management section ofsaid web-browser 9, see FIG. 6A or FIG. 6B for example.

If a file is selected, the file operation menu is used and if a folderis selected, the folder operation menu is used respectively. It is alsopossible to only provide one menu for both file and folder operation bythe console support software 6. The operation menu either can be pop-upmenu for folder as shown in FIG. 9A or pop-up menu for file as shown inFIG. 9B, or non-pop-up menu for folder as shown in FIG. 10A ornon-pop-up menu for file as shown in FIG. 10B. The choice of operationmenu is irrelevant to this invention although the actual implementationof this part of invention has used pop-up menu, and as matter of thefacts that there is no limitation on how the operation menu is to bedesigned in this invention.

In the example of FIG. 6A, the user X can post a file named “Doc 1” 24to said section-3 of the common document and contents display section insaid web-browser 9, In the example of FIG. 6B, the user Y also can posta file named “picture 1” 25 to the common document and contents displaysection in said web-browser 9. In addition, another not depicted user Zposted a file of “project code”. The files or folders could be one onsaid control system 2 or on a provisioned system 3 of the CCDSVM.

In addition, during the interactive online meeting, the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 also provides each user to postmessage to other users in same group from said section-1 of the privateuser message input section after typing a message and click on the“send” button. In the example of FIG. 6A, the user X posted a message of“Msg1 of user X” 26. In the example of FIG. 6B, the user Y also posted amessage of “Msg2 of user Y” 27. In addition, another non depicted user Zposted a message of “Msg3 of user Z”. As a result, all of three messageswere displayed in the same section-2 of each user's browser.

In a specific situation, the console support software 6 also providespermitted user to un-post the previously posted message. Just forexample, in FIG. 6A, the console support software 6 provides thepermitted user X to select a previously posted “Msg2 of the user Y” 27from said section-2 of the common message display section of saidweb-browser 9 of the user X, and select un-post operation from saidoperation menu and submit the selected un-post task.

The detailed information of how the post or un-post task to beimplemented will be discussed in next two paragraphs. In addition, withthis invention, the action of the “post” information such as postinginformation of files or folders or messages or other resources isequivalent to the action of “share” the information. The action of“un-post” information is equivalent to the action of “un-share” apreviously posted or shared information, in other words, to “remove” thepreviously posted or shared information.

After transmitting information of the post or un-post task from theweb-browser 9 of the console system 1 or client system 10 or controlsystem 2 to the control system 2, the console support software 6 of thecontrol system 2 obtains and parses the received data to determine: whois the original user initiating the task; what type of task; what typeof associated resources for task to work on; who is the targeted user;and what is the time stamp, and may also include other informationwithout limitation. The console support software 6 further determinesthat if the task is to post a file or folder from the original user, theconsole support software 6 picks up the corresponding file or folderinformation that from file and folder area 22 of the private work space16 of the original user, and deposits such information to the file andfolder area 19 of the common work space of said group 15 in this case.

If the task is to un-post a previously posted file or folder, from aspecific user, in said common work space 15 of said group, the consolesupport software 6 search for the corresponding information of the fileor folder in the file folder area of said common work space 15 of saidgroup and further remove the entry of matched information from saidcommon work space of said group after it is found.

If the task is to post a message to users in said group, the parsedmessage will be stored in the private message area 21, of the originaluser's said private work space 16, and also is copied to the messagearea 18, of the common work space 15, of said group by the consolesupport software 6.

If a task is to un-post (delete/remove) a previously posted message, theconsole support software 6 searches for a matching message in saidcommon message area 18, of said common work space of said group, andremove such message entry if it is found based on the message andoriginal user's identification and other associated information such astime stamp, security permission and so on without limitation.

It shall be noticed that the task of un-posting a file or folder of thisinvention does not actually delete the file and folder from originaluser's private work space. In addition, a lock protection mechanism isdeployed whenever a message or information of a file or folder iswritten, stored, or deposited to either said private work space or saidcommon work space, or to said disk drives or other storage media.Throughout the rest of discuss, the lock protection is assumed to be adefault action without further mentioning whenever a write/store/depositaction take place. As matter the fact, each task of posting file,folder, and message as well as the task of un-posting the previouslyposted file or folder, or message performed by multiple users inmultiple groups with this invention can be executed by the consolesupport software 6 instantly with memory speed.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B illustrate that after the console support software 6of the control system 2 successfully executing the tasks for each userin each group, each user in said user group can get a fresh view of saidsection-2 of the common messages display area of the user group-1, and afresh view of said section-3 of the common documents & contents displayarea in each user's said web browser 9 on the client system 10 or on thecontrol system 2 or on the console system 1.

User can manually click on a refresh-button, which does not show on theFIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, to refresh corresponding part of screen of eithersaid section-2 or section-3 in the browser 9. As a result, saidcorresponding part of browser screen of said section-2 or section-3 canbe automatically refreshed. As mater of the fact, optionally, theconsole support software 6 has encoded a run-time script in a web-page,which is encoded with said presentable web-format for being displayed insaid web-browser 9 after each user login to the CCDSVM and started grouponline meeting.

The run-time script will automatically and periodically perform/submittasks of refreshing said section-2 and section-3 of the web browser 9screen. The frequency of the periodic refreshing can be adjusted by saidconsole support software 6 of the CCDSVM depending on the needs of themeeting, which typically can range from 1 to 3 seconds and there is nolimitation on this aspect. Also, with the preferred example, therun-time script provided by the WCUWE is a JavaScript, however, othertype of programming scripts or methods are also possible and there is nolimitation on what kind of run-time program shall be used in thisinvention. In addition, the console support software 6 provides eachuser the choices of either automatic or manual refreshing theirweb-browser 9.

Upon refreshing said section-2 or section-3 of said web-browser 9'sscreen, a request of updating such screen will be generated and sentfrom said web-browser 9 to the control system 2. The console supportsoftware 6 obtains and parses each request to determine what user group,and which part of said common work space of said group need to beupdated.

Based on information of each parsed request, the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 retrieves the updated resources andobjectives from said common work space 15 of said user group, whichincludes recently posted files, folders, or messages from each user insaid group, and also includes the updated list of files and folders ormessages after un-posting one or more files or folders, or messages bythe users in the same group. Finally, the console support software 6 ofthe control system 2 converts retrieved information of the resources andobjects to the presentable web-format (web-page).

If the request is to update the group messages, the convertedinformation is sent to the section-2 of the group common message displayarea in corresponding user's web-page/web browser 9. If the request isto update the group common files and folders display area, the convertedinformation is sent to the section-3 of said web-browser 9. Therefore,after refreshing said sections on the web-browser 9, each user can havean identical view of all posted files and folders in the section-3 ofgroup common document display area on said browser 9, and can have anidentical view of all messages in the section-2 of the group commonmessage display area on said web-browser 9, which are posted by allother users in a same group. Meanwhile said console support software 6still allow each user kept most of the resources and objects in theirown private work space un-exposed to other users in the same groupduring the online interactive meeting.

For example, the User X at his/her web-browser 9 can see “picture 1” 25,posted by the user Y, in the group common file and folder display areabut cannot see other information in the user Y's private work spacearea, and can see the “Doc 1” 24 posted by the user X himself. Also, theuser Y at his/her web-browser 9 can see “Doc 1” 24, posted by the userX, in the group common file and folder display area but cannot see otherinformation in user X's private file and folder display area, and cansee the “picture 1” posted by the user Y himself.

A difference between a conventional Internet group communication modeland the group based communication model described in the presentinvention is that the console support software 6 of the control system 2provides each user to control post or un-post said resources from user'sown displayed private work space while the conventional Internetcommunication model are not capable of performing suchposting/un-posting task. For example, un-posting a previous posted fileor folder with the WCUWE of the CCDSVM does not delete the materials ofthe file or folder in the user's private work space while the deleteoperation with existing Internet group communication model willcompletely delete the file or folder. The dynamic work space of thisinvention has combined with security protection for the information and,flexibility and efficiency for online meeting provided by the WCUWE ofthe CCDSVM to each of user and groups.

In addition, with a preferred example, posted information of each fileis encoded by said console support software 6 with a web link anddisplayed in said section-3 of the web-browser 9. Therefore, each userin a user-group can click on said link to download the file, whichprovided in the private file and folder area 22 of the private workspace 16 of peer user, from a system where the file is located. Forexample, the user X can download said “picture 1”, which may reside oneither a control system 2 or provisioned systems 3, from the user Y,while the user Y can download said “Doc 1”, which also may reside oneither a control system 2 or provisioned system 3, from the user X atsame time. This achieves a true peer-to-peer exchanging files onpermitted system from permitted users in said user group. In addition,there is no limitation on the file size of the file to be downloaded,which is a gifted benefit from Internet technology. Besides the exampledand understandable method of download, other methods of retrieve peerusers' digital documents or contents are also possible by deploying amore efficient proprietary file transfer mechanism to reach the resultsof said exchanging file. It shall be noted that the method of downloadis only applicable to the files and does not apply to folder and otherresource information. To get a targeted peer user's entire folder andthe underneath files and sub folders, a special files and foldertransfer method is required.

As shown in FIGS. 9A & 9B, and FIGS. 10A & 10B, the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 also provides each user to performmany other tasks during online meeting through said operation menu suchas upload, rename, delete, copy/paste and so on without limitation. Theupload operation allows each user to dynamically upload files one a timethrough the web-browser 9 from a local storage of the client system 10or console system 1 to said user's private work space on the controlsystem 2 during the meeting, and further to be posted to said commonspace of a user group that each user belong to.

The mouse click driven copy/past operation allows files and folders frompermitted folders of permitted provisioned systems 3 to be dynamicallyphysically copied to each users' private work spaces 16 on the controlsystem 2, and the information of said files and folders could further tobe displayed via said web-page in the browser 9 of each user and to befurther posted to the common work space 15 of said group which each userbelong to in addition to the direct posting these file or folders asdescribed previously—without physical copying over. As matter of thefact, operations provided by the console support software 6 of thecontrol system 2 have added efficiency to posting or un-posting filesand folders for each user depending on the real needs.

Additionally, said console support software 6 provides each user of eachgroup capability of saving the posted messages in the common messagearea 18 of said common work space 15 of each group as a file in thecommon file & folder area of said common work space 15 of each group.Further, the saved file can be viewed, downloaded by each user in eachgroup with same method of posting. Besides whenever there is a need,said console support software 6 provides users to reset message area tobe empty by removing all message entries in the message area 18 of saiduser group's common work space 15.

An important fact is that the designed WCUWE of the CCDSVM has providedconcurrent users each from a single web browser anywhere on the networkto securely perform permitted various tasks, which could be runconcurrently within a single web-browser. Because of the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 let each users have exclusive viewfor resource objects in his/her private work space 16 and in said commonwork space 15 of a group which each user belong to and let each user tomanage resource objects in his/her own private space, the multiple usersin multiple user groups can concurrently post or un-post files, folders,messages, or other resource objects without interfere users in otheruser-groups. Thus, the work spaces of each user and each group are wellprotected.

Hence, the console support software 6 of the control system 2 providesprivileged users to perform tasks of creating multiple users and usergroups on the control system, and each group can be assigned withvariable size of the users for online interactive meeting. The totalnumber of users and the total number of groups, and maximum number ofthe users per groups of the WCUWE of the CCDSVM can support is animplementation issue and depends on the capacity of the control system2. The WCUWE of CCDSVM and the CCDSVM has been designed with unlimitedscalability for both users and provisioned systems 3. On the other hand,the spirit of this invention does not limit to with the boundary issuesof the WCUWE and the CCDSVM.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate that each user X and user Y has adifferent private work space 18 than others, and each has assigned withdifferent system resources. Without joining a group or participating agroup meeting, the console support software 6 of the control system 2also can provide user X and user Y to peer-to-peer instantly postingfiles or folders one a time to each other, or instantly un-post theprevious posted files and folders through similar steps as posting orun-posting materials in group online meeting model:

-   -   1) Let each user select, via mouse clicking, a source of file or        folder for post or un-post;    -   2) Let the user to select a post operation (task) if the user        wants to post a file or folder through an operation menu; or to        select an un-post operation (task) from an operation menu if        said user like to un-post a previously posted file or folder;    -   3) upon submitting the operation (task), let each user provide        input to a prompt of “who is a targeted user?” which provided by        said console support software 9, and further submit the selected        task;    -   4) Said console support software 6 obtains and parses the task        information of original user, source of the file or folder, type        of operation, and other information;    -   5) If said type of the operation is post file or folder, said        console support software 6 deposits the information of said        source file or folder to said private file and folder area 22 of        said private work space 16 of a targeted user. If said operation        type is un-post a file or folder, said console support software        6 searches a corresponding file or folder information from said        private file and folder area 22 of said private work space 16 of        said targeted user to match the source file or folder, if found        a match, the corresponding entry of the file or folder is        removed from said private file and folder area 22 of said        private work space 16 of the targeted user; and    -   6) Upon each user refreshing the web-page in web-browser 9, the        console support software 6 retrieves and converts the updated        information in said private file and folder area 22 of own        private work space 16 of the user into a presentable web-format        (web-page) and transmits said web-page to the web-browser 9 of        the user for displaying and viewing.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the user X can follow said steps 1) to3) to post his “folder 2” 32, in the displayed files and folders area 22of private working space 16 in the user X's web-browser 9, to the userY. As shown in FIG. 8C, upon the user Y refreshing his/her web-browser 9on a system by walking on a corresponding system node or folder node inthe displayed tree, the user Y will see the “folder 2” 32 in his/herdisplayed private file and folder tree in the displayed private workspace of user Y shown in FIG. 8C. As matter of the fact, when walking asystem node and/or a file & folder tree in said web-browser 9, arefreshing web-page screen request is generated and to be handled asdescribed previously.

In addition to post or un-posting messages in the group basedcommunication involving parties with two or more users, the WCUWE of theCCDSVM also provides each user to post message to each other user withnon-group based 1-to-1 message model. FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B have shown anexample of a user X and a user Y, who may not be in a same user group,however, the console support software 6 of the control system 2 provideseach user to share and exchange messages with each other from athree-section web-page in said browser 9.

The section-3 of the web page in said browser 9 let user to work withsame said steps of non-group based 1-to-1 posting files and folders orun-posting the previously posted files or folders as described in priorparagraphs—The section-3 included in FIGS. 7A and 7B just for ademonstration of how flexible of this invention is to displayinformation under private work space of each user. Further, the numberof sections in the screen layout and the order of each section inweb-page display really is not a limitation to this invention.

The section-1 is a user message input area together with an additionalinput field of “To who” due to unlike in group online meeting, theconsole support software 9 have no knowledge of who is the targeted userin this case. Thus, a user can post a message with similar steps aspreviously discussed in prior paragraphs-of this invention.Nevertheless, unlike with group meeting messaging model, after obtainingand parsing information of the messages from each user, the consolesupport software 6 of the control system 2 will deposit the message toboth targeted user and the original sending user's message areas 21 ofthe private work space 16. Further, with same said steps of displayingmessages in each user's browser as described in previous paragraphs,each user can view both own message and messages from peer user insection-2 of the browser 9.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the user X input a message of “msg4 ofuser X” 30 and type “user Y” in input field of “To who”, and then submitthe message by clicking on “Send” button. Similar as shown in FIG. 7B,the user Y input a message of “Msg3 of user Y” 31, and type “user X” ininput field of “To who”, and then submit the message. Upon therefreshing the web-page in the web-browser 9 of each of the users, theuser X will see the message 30 he/she sent and the message 31 from theuser Y. Also the user Y will see both messages 30 and 31 at same time.

Again, the design choice of three sections of the web-page display andthe order of each section is just a preferred example of implementationfor non-group based peer user communication. This invention is notlimited by web-screen display layout, for example, a screen display onlywith said section-1 and section-2 are also possible and so on withoutlimitation.

The WCUWE of the CCDSVM has provided a security hierarchy for members ofa team to work together cross multiple locations. With said securityhierarchy and said steps of posting or un-posting file and folder, theconsole support software 6 of the control system 2 can specially letonly a team leader with capability of posting folder or file to beviewed, shared, and accessed by all team members or by an individualmember in a non-group meeting based environment. In addition, theconsole support software 6 also let each team member to post or un-posthis/her file or folders to only a specific peer user one a time innon-group-meeting based environment. Again, the said files or folderscould be on said control system 2 or on a provisioned system 3.

It is relatively straightforward for the WCUWE of the CCDSVM, morespecifically the console support software 6, to support massive onlineusers, who do not have account with the CCDSVM and can not login theCCDSVM, yet to view the dynamically posted files, folders, or messagesposted by users with account of the CCDSVM.

In a preferred example, such as shown in FIG. 6E, the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 provides a web-page to massive onlineusers, who do not have to login the CCDSVM. The web-page could be layoutwith two major sections with section-1 to display messages in thesharable message area 18 in a designated user group's common work space15 while the section-2 to display file or folders in the sharable fileor folder area 19 in said designated user group's common work space 15.

Meanwhile, for users belong to same said designated user group, eachuser from a web-browser on a computing system across said network loginto the CCDSVM and get said group online meeting web-page as shown inFIG. 6A for the user X and in FIG. 6B for the user Y. Further asdescribed previous paragraph, each user in said group can instantly postmessage to said message area 18 of the designated user group's commonwork space 15, or post a file or folder to the sharable file and folderarea 19 in the designated user group's common work space 15. Also, eachuser in the user group can instantly un-post the previously posted filesor folders by removing the corresponding file or folder entry in thefile and folder area 19 of the designated user-group's common work space15, or un-post the previously posted messages by removing them from thecommon message area 18 of the common work space 15 of the user-group asdescribed in previous several paragraph-.

Meanwhile as previously described and as shown in FIG. 6E, said web-pagein the browser 9 is for access by massive online users, who have noaccount with the CCDSVM. The web page can be dynamically updated,displayed, and further be viewed by the massive users anywhere throughtheir own browser 9 accordingly with the same pace as dynamicallydisplay of said section-2 and section-3 of a web-page in the browser 9as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B. Again, the two sections of a web-pagedisplay layout is a preferred example and it does not limit thisinvention because with this invention other layout is also possible, forexample, it may be desired to have web-page layout only contains onesection, which is either for messages or file or folder's displaydepending on the application's need.

As shown in FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C, with non-group basedpeer-to-peer post or un-post files and folders, people may often do notremember how many files and folders have been posted for sharing. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 8A, the user X can select “folder 2” 32,select a post on operation menu, and provide target “user Y” to share“folder 2” 32. As show in FIG. 8C, the user Y can see “Folder 2” 32 ofthe user X in the web-browser 9 of the user Y after the user X post“Folder 2” 32. If the user X selects various files or folders forsharing with other dozen people, the user X will have difficult time toremember what has been shared and who are targeted users shared with. Asshown in FIG. 11, the console support software 6 of the control system 2can provide each user, such as user X for example, a sharing controllist for displaying of how many files or folders being posted by him orher and shared to whom.

As shown in FIG. 11 of the personal t sharing control list in the userX's web-browser 9, an entry of posted “Folder 2” 32 is listed at bottomof the sharing control list and it is posted/shared to/with the user Y.Further, said console support software 6 can provide each user toselectively un-post the previously posted file and/or folder by clickingon a “delete shared?” option of an operation menu over the correspondingentry for the posted file or folder in the sharing control list togenerate an un-post operation task. For example, the user X clicks on“delete share?” to un-post the “Folder 2” 32. Thereafter, as describedbefore said console support software 6 of the control system 2 willexecute the un-post task. Further upon refreshing the targeted user Y'sweb-page in said web-browser 9, instead of seeing “Folder 2” 32 as shownin FIG. 8C, the user Y will see an updated view of said web-page asshown in FIG. 8B, where the “Folder 2” 32 has been removed. Theoperation menu for “delete share?” depicted here just for example and itcould be displayed in other form.

In addition to let original user in a group to control the un-postingfile or folder in a group based communication, the console supportsoftware 6 of the control system 2 may also provide a privileged user toun-post the previously posted files or folders in the displayed file andfolder section-3 of said web-page. To support this capability, theconsole support software 6 will provide an operation menu to associatewith said displayed files and folders in said display section-3, furtherto allow privileged user to perform similar un-post operation. Afterreceiving the un-post operation, the console support software 6 willperform similar searching for selected file or folder in the group fileand folder area 19 of the group common work space 15 of said group, ifthere is match, the corresponding entry will be deleted. Also, the fileand folder section of the web-page in the web-browser 9 can be refreshedaccordingly as described before.

Having briefly described embodiments of the web based networkenvironment in which the present invention operates, FIG. 12 illustratesan example of a computer system 1200, which is an exemplary clientsystem 10, provisioned system 3, control system 2, or console system 1in which the features of the present invention may be implemented.Process of the web based information exchange can be implemented in anyprocessor-based computer system, such as a PC, a workstation, or amainframe computer. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art that other alternative computer system architectures may also beemployed.

Referring back to FIG. 12, computer system 200 includes a processingunit 201, an interface bus 211, and an input/output (“IO”) unit 220.Processing unit 201 includes a processor 202, a main memory 204, asystem bus 211, a static memory device 206, a bus control unit 205, amass storage memory 207, and a web information exchange module 230. Bus211 is used to transmit information between various components andprocessor 202 for data processing. Processor 202 may be any of a widevariety of general-purpose processors or microprocessors such asPentium™ microprocessor, Motorola™ 68040, or Power PC™ microprocessor.

Main memory 204, which may include multiple levels of cache memories,stores frequently used data and instructions. Main memory 204 may be RAM(random access memory), MRAM (magnetic RAM), or flash memory. Staticmemory 206 may be a ROM (read-only memory), which is coupled to bus 211,for storing static information and/or instructions. Bus control unit 205is coupled to buses 211-212 and controls which component, such as mainmemory 204 or processor 202, can use the bus. Bus control unit 205manages the communications between bus 211 and bus 212. Mass storagememory 207, which may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, hard diskdrive, floppy disk, CD-ROM, and/or flash memories for storing largeamounts of data. Web based information exchange 230, in one embodiment,is a network control component for facilitating information exchangeover the Web. It should be noted that web based information exchange 230could be software or hardware or a combination of software and hardwarecomponents.

I/O unit 220, in one embodiment, includes a display 221, keyboard 222,cursor control device 223, and communication device 225. Display device221 may be a liquid crystal device, cathode ray tube (“CRT”),touch-screen display, or other suitable display device. Display 221projects or displays images of a graphical planning board. Keyboard 222may be a conventional alphanumeric input device for communicatinginformation between computer system 200 and computer operator(s).Another type of user input device is cursor control device 223, such asa conventional mouse, touch mouse, trackball, or other type of cursorfor communicating information between system 200 and user(s).

Communication device 225 is coupled to bus 211 for accessing informationfrom remote computers or servers, such as server or other computers,through wide-area network. Communication device 225 may include a modemor a network interface device, or other similar devices that facilitatecommunication between computer 200 and the network. Computer system 200may be coupled to a number of servers via a network infrastructure suchas the infrastructure illustrated in FIG. 1.

The present invention has been described in considerable details withreference to certain examples. However, other versions and examples arealso possible, therefore, the spirit of this invention shall not belimited to these examples and/or embodiments. Also, the claims of thisinvention will label with numbering and in most cases, the numberingdoes not represent any sequence or order unless specifically describedas the steps of a method.

1-34. (canceled)
 35. A method of web based information exchange,comprising: receiving a first posting request from a first user residedacross an internet; identifying a first posting object in response tosaid posting request and posting requirements associated with said firstposting request; determining a first group in which said first user is amember; obtaining a list users within said first group from a localstorage device; generating a first web page including said postingobject; and providing said first web page to users of said first groupvia users' systems through the internet; and monitoring said first webpage and determining whether any of said users have access said webpage.
 36. The method of claim 35, further comprising: receiving a secondposting request from a second user resided across an internet;identifying a second posting object in response to said second postingrequest and posting requirements associated with said second postingrequest; generating a second web page including said second postingobject; un-posting said first web page; providing said second web pageto users of said first group via users' systems through the internet;and monitoring said second web page and determining whether any of saidusers have access said second web page.
 37. A method, implemented by aserver, for supporting posting and/or un-posting information byutilizing web pages, comprising: configuring a first page to bepresented to a first user when the first user from a remote device loginthe server, the first page being configured allowing the first user to(i) input a message to post the message, (ii) select a file from filesdisplayed in the first page to post the selected file, (iii) select apreviously posted message to un-post the message, and (iv) select apreviously posted file to un-post the file; parsing a request receivedfrom the first user for posting an object of a message or file forsharing the object with a second user or un-posting a previously postedobject for removing the shared object from viewing by the second user;identifying accessibility of the request, including accessibility ofstorage space, according to said parsing; processing to carryout therequest, including to generate a second page to comprise the postedobject or reflect un-posting of the previously posted object accordingto the accessibility identified; and present the second web page on asecond remote device for accessing by the second user.
 38. The method ofclaim 37, wherein said parsing a request comprises: determininginformation related to the request, including original user, targetuser, operation of posting or un-posting, object type of message, fileor folder, timestamp, and/or sharing model of group or personal sharing.39. The method of claim 38, wherein said identifying accessibilitycomprises: determining permission and accessibility of storage spacesaccording to the target user, data type and sharing model parsed. 40.The method of claim 39, wherein said processing to carryout the requestcomprises: according to the permission and accessibility determined,storing a message into a message area of a storage space in response toa request of posting the message, deleting the posted message from themessage area in response to a request of un-posting the posted message,storing information, but not content, of a file into a file and folderarea of a storage space in response to a request of posting the file,and deleting the information of the file from the file and folder areaof the storage space in response to a request of un-posting the postedfile.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein said un-posting a previouslyposted file does not deleting the actual file, which residing on theserver or on a remote device across a network.
 42. The method of claim40, wherein said generate a second page comprises: encoding the secondpage to reflect the message and/or information of the file in thestorage space being posted or un-posted.
 43. A server comprising: atleast one hardware processor, and one computer-readable storage devicecomprising program code which, when executed by the at least onehardware processor, configures the server to execute a method ofutilizing web pages for supporting posting and/or un-postinginformation, the method executed comprises: configuring a first page tobe presented to a first user when the first user from a remote devicelogin the server, the first page being configured allowing the firstuser to (i) input a message to post the message, (ii) select a file fromfiles displayed in the first page to post the selected file, (iii)select a previously posted message to un-post the message, and (iv)select a previously posted file to un-post the file; parsing a requestreceived from the first user for posting an object of a message or filefor sharing the object with second user or for un-posting a previouslyposted object for removing the shared object from viewing by the seconduser; identifying accessibility of the request, including accessibilityof storage space, according to said parsing; processing to carryout therequest, including to generate a second page to comprise the postedobject or reflect un-posting of the previously posted object accordingto the accessibility identified; and present the second web page on asecond remote device for accessing by the second user.
 44. The server ofclaim 43, wherein said configuring a first page further comprises:configuring the first page with a message input section including a textinput field to facilitate a user to input text for a message for postingthe message, and with a message display section for displaying messagesbeing posted and facilitating user to select posted message to un-postthe selected message.
 45. The server of claim 43, wherein saidconfiguring a first page further comprises: configuring the first pagewith a file section for displaying files available for posting and ainformation sharing section for displaying files being posted andfacilitating user to select posted file to perform un-posting theselected file.
 46. The server of claim 45, wherein said files availablefor posting are further actually residing on the server or residingamong one or more remote devices on a network.
 47. The server of claim43, wherein said configuring a first page further comprises: configuringoperation menu to facilitate user performing said posting or un-postingoperation for message or file.
 48. The server of claim 43, wherein saidun-posting a previously posted file further comprises: presenting asharing control list to the first user, where each entry on the listcomprises information of a file posted by the first user to facilitatethe first user performing the operation of un-posting the posted file.49. The method of claim 43, wherein said parsing a request comprises:determining information related to the request, including original user,target user, operation of posting or un-posting, object type of message,file or folder, timestamp, and/or sharing model of group or personalsharing.
 50. The method of claim 49, wherein said identifyingaccessibility comprises: determining permission and accessibility ofstorage spaces according to the target user, data type and sharing modelparsed.
 51. The server of claim 50, wherein said processing to carryoutthe request comprises: based on the permission and accessibilitydetermined, storing a message into a message area of a storage space inresponse to a request of posting the message, deleting the postedmessage from the message area in response to a request of un-posting theposted message, storing information, but not content, of a file into afile and folder area of a storage space in response to a request ofposting the file, and deleting the information of the file from the fileand folder area of the storage space in response to a request ofun-posting the posted file.
 52. The server of claim 51, wherein saidinformation of a file comprising at least location, name, ownership,size or timestamp of the file.
 53. The server of claim 51, wherein saiddeleting a message or information of a file comprises: searching storedmessages or information of files in the storage space for matching withthe one designated for deleting, and deleting a stored message orinformation of a file when said matching is found.
 54. The server ofclaim 43, wherein said presenting the second web page on a second remotedevice comprises: presenting, automatically through runtime script, thesecond page onto each of the second device. 55-56. (canceled)